Aussies dodge first round of Netflix password sharing crackdowns

After trialling password-sharing restrictions in Latin America, Netflix has announced that it will begin rolling out the new rules and additional user fees to more countries over the coming months. Effective immediately, the password apocalypse will expand to Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.

Thankfully, Australia didn’t make the first round of countries, so moochers can rest assured they won't have their supply cut off unexpectedly. Netflix has suggested that a “full global rollout” of the password-sharing restrictions will take “a couple of (financial) quarters,” but gave no information about which countries will be impacted and when.

The changes to the streaming platform will be introduced with a handful of account management options and tools, such as the ability to set your primary location (your home), a way to view and manage access and devices connected to your account, options for transferring profiles and preferences to new accounts, options for watching Netflix while travelling and the option to purchase additional access for devices and users who don’t live at your location. That last one doesn’t seem to come cheap, with Netflix charging NZD$7.99 per additional user in New Zealand.

The number of additional members you can purchase is also tied to your account tier: Standard Plan users can only add one additional member while Premium members can add an extra two users to the same account.

With two additional users and a Premium Netflix plan (NZD $24.99), New Zealand users can expect to pay as much as NZD $40.97 per month if they want to share their account with more than one person who doesn’t live in the same home.

The Premium Netflix plan currently costs $22.99 per month in Australia. Considering the proximity of the New Zealand dollar to the Australian dollar, it’s not hard to imagine additional users costing somewhere in the same ballpark when the restrictions eventually hit Down Under.

Netflix’s war on password sharing isn’t just a bummer for anyone who has been getting a free ride up until now, it also sounds like the rollout has been incredibly frustrating for everyday users in South America where the crackdown has already begun. One Reddit user demonstrated just how frustrating it can be if you use devices like WiFi extenders that generate an SSID (basically your WiFi signal name/identification) different from your main modem-router. Skimming through the comments, it’s apparent the user isn’t alone in their frustration.

Given the password sharing restrictions were previously localised to South America, we haven’t had the opportunity to test the boundaries of these measures but some users in the Reddit thread linked above claim that using a VPN to dodge the restrictions isn't a suitable workaround.

If all goes to plan when it rolls out in Australia and you’re happy to fork out for an additional user fee, you will be able to nominate up to two guests in the Netflix app. Those users can reportedly use their own payment details to pay for the additional user fee too.

If you’re not happy with the results, it might be time to cancel that account and suss out another streaming service.